Monthly Archives: September 2011

Here’s a nice article in Indiewire, the #1 Blog for indie filmmakers. Quote:

Robert Maier got lucky. He was just out of college when he began working with John Waters on “Female Trouble” and continued to be part of his crew through “Cry-Baby;” he also directed the 1975 short doc “Love Letter to Edie,”which profiles Waters’ longtime muse Edith Massey.

Low Budget Hell is a roller coaster ride of bizarre low-budget movie stories: lunches of Kools, Cokes, and soggy meatball subs; riding the subway with $25,000 cash; a Federal drug bust on set — at gunpoint; meeting with Deborah Harry and Chris Stein — in bed; getting death threats from the mob, fending off attacks by irate husbands; placating enraged stars and producers; and going on dates with John Waters to topless movies at Baltimore’s sleaziest theaters.

It was a time of irresponsible experimentation and the story of artists who went from living in their cars to buying million dollar Manhattan lofts — and as John Waters says, how fortunate we are for the statute of limitations.

Robert Maier is a writer/producer/production manager who worked for fifteen years with John Waters on his movies, Female Trouble, Desperate Living, Polyester, Hairspray, and Cry-baby, plus a dozen other low-budget movie-makers in New York City and Baltimore. He made the noted 30-minute underground documentary, Love Letter to Edie, and is the author of two additional books on film and video production. Robert lives in Davidson, North Carolina where he teaches audio and video at a nearby community college.

I just watched a movie yesterday with an MPAA rating graphic warning that some scenes included “Smoking.” Was that a joke? I mean as a progressive liberal, I’m all for government regulation, but this needs further explanation. Smoking is a public activity. It’s bad for you, but so are many other activities. Will scenes of people eating pancakes require warnings? Will there be a list of foods that diabetics should avoid watching, lest they pounce on the snack bar if a shot of Raisinettes appears? Will the new rage be Odorama-like on-screen warnings for chocolate sundaes or chili-cheese fries? Will we be warned if a scene shows a reckless driver? A sign on a nearby walking path has a list of user instructions 2 feet long.

If people are so weak that they cannot be trusted to watch someone smoking on screen, what will we do when the Chinese Red Army begins streaming across the the Canadian border?